Package inserts that drive reviews & repeat orders
The little printed card in the box is the cheapest marketing you own. It reaches every buyer at the happiest moment they'll ever feel about you, the unbox.
Pick two or three insert types, time the review ask to after real use, and measure insert-driven repeat orders instead of guessing.
Fastest path: one prompt, end to end
🤖 AI prompt — paste into ChatGPT / Claude
You are a retention copywriter for a small e-commerce brand. Use MY details only.
Product + price: [e.g. handmade candles, $28]
What I want most from inserts: [reviews / repeat orders / both]
Reorder cycle: [e.g. ~45 days] Best repeat-order incentive I can afford: [% or $]
Review platform + link: [e.g. my product page, or a QR to it]
Do this:
1. Recommend 2-3 insert types from: (a) review ask with a QR code, (b) discount-for-next-order card, (c) how-to-use / get-the-most-from-it card, (d) a short handwritten-style thank-you. Say why each fits MY product.
2. Write the copy for each card, short enough to fit a business-card or A6 insert.
3. Tell me WHEN the review ask should land relative to delivery (not day 0, after they've used it) and how to word it so it feels like a favor, not a demand.
4. Give me one metric to prove inserts work: repeat-order rate from customers who got the insert vs those who didn't.
Do not invent benchmark numbers or review rates. If you need a figure I haven't given, ask me. If you can't browse to check a platform's review-link format, say so and leave a placeholder.
Output: chosen insert types + card copy + review-ask timing + the one metric.
Or do it in 4 steps
- Pick inserts that do a job. The four that earn their ink: a review ask with a QR straight to the review form, a discount-for-next-order card (a code that only works on order #2), a how-to-use card that cuts returns and buyer's remorse, and a short handwritten-style thank-you that makes a tiny brand feel human. Two or three per box, not all four.
- Time the review ask to after they've used it. A QR that fires on unbox day asks for a review before the product has done anything. Word the card to say "once you've tried it", and if you can, trigger the digital nudge to match your reorder or usage cycle so the ask lands when they actually have an opinion.
- Make the repeat-order card feel earned, not desperate. A "10% off your next order, code THANKS" card converts because it arrives in a happy moment. Keep the incentive modest and the code specific to order #2, so you're rewarding a second purchase, not discounting the first.
- Measure insert-driven repeat, not vanity. Tag or code the inserts so you can compare repeat-order rate between customers who received a given card and those who didn't. That's the only number that tells you which insert to keep printing.
Worked example (labeled): candles, $28, ~45-day burn cycle. The box ships with a how-to-use card (trim the wick, first burn 2 hours) and a QR review card worded "once you've burned it a few times, tell us". A next-order code (CANDLE2, 10% off, order #2 only) goes in for repeat buyers.
Reviews climb because the ask waits for real experience. Repeat orders climb because the code lands at the happy moment, not in a cold email later.
For putting those reviews to work: see reviews-social-proof under store & product for on-page display, and ugc-reviews-content under marketing for turning reviews into ads.
Print two or three inserts, time the review ask to real use, and keep only the card whose repeat-order lift you can actually measure.